Kevbo

Hello, I am an 18-year-old high school senior who has considered himself an atheist for as long as I can remember. I cannot accept any religion I have come across on logical grounds, though I understand that it is impossible to prove that no religion is true. However, I am debating whether I can justify atheist activism. The very definition of an atheist is someone who need not be bound by any creed, someone who is free to discover the meaning of life as it relates to him or her personally. I have a hard time positively asserting myself as an atheist, as I consider atheism not to be a belief in itself, but the plain and simple quality of having no faith in any established God or religion.

I once came across the bumper-sticker phrase, "If atheism is a religion, health is a disease." Healthy people do not actively think about themselves in terms of their health, just as an atheist does not actively think about himself or herself in terms of religion. People only consider health when it is deteriorating, and an atheist usually considers religion only when an outside stimulus brings up the subject.

I absolutely understand the need to fight for freedom of, and from, religion. No person should be discriminated against for his or her beliefs or lack thereof. What I have a hard time doing is using the term "atheist" as a positive affirmation of my identity. I cannot connect with a community of atheists on that similarity alone, because I believe that to be an atheist is to lack a unifying need for religion. I don't positively think of myself as an atheist any more than I think of myself as "not Italian." I am "not" a good many things more than I "am." I think of a community of atheists or "freethinkers" as being functionally equivalent to a community of "non-Italians." Because there are so many more things that a person can "not" be than can, defining a community on a negative does not seem to make sense.

That being said, I have noticed that many people on these forums and elsewhere place some semblance of value on an atheist community. Would anyone mind describing to me the benefits that he or she sees for maintaining an atheist community, in and of itself?

winterwooskie

i agree about not having a need to call yourself an atheist. but it is not just for the sake of using it as a status symbol, it just means you do not believe the world works by a god making things work. i do not believe it is negative and is an opposite of a religion or dogma. a world that is in and of itself is valid. atheism came before religion, so you could argue that religion is an opposite of atheism, if you felt like it

i like that there is a community of people with something in common because there are not many places for me to discuss things with people who might understand me a little better and it is possible that we have even more things in common than just atheism. especially since there are many people who believe in atheism or agnosticism are probably people who think of things in a more common sense way and probably do not have silly taboos or hangups about other things in their life, i'm not saying all, but there are less here than there are with people who believe in something that i might consider silly. also what i like about this place is that if someone knows you are an atheist they will not demonize you or think you're a scumbag, i don't have a place or know of any people who will not treat me like that. so this place is appealing for that reason.

Jewel

Kevbo,

Welcome to II! I wish you luck in your quest. However, as this topic does not really fit in with Church-State Separation activism I am moving this thread to Misc. Discussions where you are more likely to get the responses you are looking for.

-Jewel
Moderator
CSS&SA

livius drusus

Hi Kevbo -

What an excellent introductory post! Please consider stopping by the Welcome Forum should you feel the urge to tell us a little more about yourself. With a nod to my colleague Jewel, I'm going to shift this thread once more to Secular Lifestyle & Support where I believe it will find a rich environment in which to thrive.

Toto

People join atheist organizations for the same reason they join other organizations. Sometimes it's the only place you can find to have an intelligent discussion about the world without having to bite your tongue to avoid insulting the religious beliefs of your family and friends.

In addition, if you feel that your rights to be a non-believer are under attack, as they appear to be, you might feel the need for a common effort to combat that.

Bumble Bee Tuna

Just call yourself a 'skeptic'. That's the fundamental quality that atheists share, for the most part.

-B

Enlighten Me

Many people have been damaged by religion or have had to extricate themselves from religious indoctrination through excruciating examination of long held beliefs. Consider this troublesome dilemma: "I don't think I can believe in Hell anymore....Shit! That thought makes me a candidate for Hell!" The process of deconversion is easier when one feels a sense of community with others who understand. You say that being an atheist is similar to being a "non-Italian," but there is no stigma attached to being a non-Italian, while there most certainly IS one attached to being an atheist, especially in the U.S. and under the current adminsitration.

Because you are such an intelligent and articulate young person, I hope that you will see the need to be an activist. But I also fear that if you do, you will soon learn why activism is necessary. I think you may find quite a few people out there who will express pity or contempt for your lack of God-belief, and I doubt you will welcome such a response....

Eudaimonist

I know what you mean. I consider atheism a trivial aspect of my worldview.

I respect attempts by atheists and freethinkers to form communities since I think there are many benefits of this (even for a community of "non-Italians"), but I tend to sympathize with your view. This is why my community, the Fellowship of Reason®, takes an ethical stance. This is probably also why many people join secular humanist groups.

Well, consider this board, "Secular Lifestyle & Support". Isn't there a value to this place?

Jolimont

I used to be very very committed to my religion. I was even a mssionary and for 19 months did nothing but try to win people over to that religion. 20 years later I realized I made a big mistake. By now my entire life has been spent in that one religion, I hardly even have friends outside of that circle. That's where atheist/humanist groups are very helpful. Some of us like to have a clan. I find it enhances my social and intellectual life. How did theism get so strong? They established communities which influenced the greater community. They built buildings and established a presence, a legitimacy. Atheists would benefit from doing the same. I think there should be a great atheist charity out there, one that proclaims to do good without god. That sort of group action would give the movement more legitimacy, more visibility. Is it necessary? No. Would it be positive? Yes. That's how I see it.

captainpabst

I increasingly consider atheism to be a large part of who I am. Living in the bible belt, I see people invoking the "Lawd" left and right, for all kinds of reasons- "god bless you; god blesserize america; I'll pray for god's blessing on this or that matter; I'll pray for you; oh, isn't this or that such a blessing?" When I was teaching high school, I had to put up with not only acknowledgement of "the almighty" by our administration, but also faculty and the student body led in prayer by said administration. Hearing this kind of thing all the time and realizing that it's the norm here, that most people take it seriously (or at least pay lip service enough to make one think they take it seriously), I've become increasingly forlorn that a common delusion has sunk its parasitic fangs into the clueless and insecure minds of the masses.

It would be one thing if religous people could pay their lip service on Sunday morning and then live the rest of the week unaffected by senseless and, indeed, offensive dogma. Unfortunately, fundamentalism doesn't work that way. Everything one does has to be tied into the delusion somehow. If something goes right for you, it's a blessing. If something truly great happens to you, it's a miracle. If something bad happens, god is testing or punishing you. Only xians who are saved will inherit the kingdom of god through christ's grace and mercy on the day of judgement and glory, hallelujah. Those who reject HIM will find themselves in mortal peril on the day of rapture, gnashing their teeth as demons run around the planet attempting to chew their souls. And let's not forget being roasted alive after satan takes his faithful servants home.

That anyone can hold such a disgusting and incomprehensible worldview is appalling to me. You might not be all that familiar with it in NY. Here we have a radio station based out of Somerset, KY, called "King of Kings" radio. They play a mixture of gospel music, live recordings of tent revival preaching, and have a few talk shows that expouse nothing but the most repugnant teachings in the bible, spun to be as useful as possible to the prejudice, racist, homophobic, egotistical bastards in their studios, who really think that only they know what's best for everyone in America, and that of course is bible-believing fundamentalist 'don't think about it too much or else' christianity. How abhorrent.

I've thought to myself lately that if there is a cause that I could ever become an active advocate for, it would be some sort of atheist movement, freethought organization, or something along those lines. The last thing this world needs is to take seriously the meglomaniacal diatribe that spews forth from the lips of those who expound the worst traits humanity has to offer under the guise of xianity. How sickening.

I don't usually post this way, but have been thinking these things lately, and this seems like a good time/place to let them out.